grudge match – Michmutters
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Sports

Penrith Panthers arrogance, Storm, Matt Tripp, Ivan Cleary, Jarome Luai, Nathan Cleary, Greg Alexander

The Penrith Panthers have been defended against claims of arrogance directed at the club from Storm chairman Matt Tripp ahead of their grudge match on Thursday night.

Ahead of their Round 22 clash, the Panthers rivally with the Storm was ignited by Penrith chair Greg Alexander’s comments suggesting Melbourne brought the wrestle into the game, prompting a fiery response.

“Ivan Cleary has responded to explosive comments from Storm chairman Matt Tripp that labeled Penrith deputy chairman Greg Alexander and the Panthers club arrogant after Alexander accused Storm of pioneering wrestling tactics in the game,” Braith Anasta said on NRL 360.

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“Tripp hit back with this pointed attack: “For the deputy chair of one of our biggest competitors to make unfounded and stupid comments, just goes to the arrogance of that club and their perceived status in the game.”

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary defended the club after Tripp’s scathing attack in light of Alexander’s comments in his role as a commentator, which has nothing to do with Penrith as a club.

“Absolutely unfair,” Cleary said.

“I’m not here to judge anybody else. I know that Brandy (Alexander) is an outstanding commentator. He is a decorated figure in the game for many years as a player and a commentator. I think if anyone is able to have an opinion it is Brandy and most of his opinions of him are spot on.

“That was his opinion in a different role so I don’t think it is fair for everyone else at our club to be labeled what we were.

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Ivan Cleary has defended his players and the Panthers as a club.Source: News Corp Australia

“I don’t know why people say it, but I don’t believe it is true. The consistency we have shown over the last three years, I don’t think there is any way you can do that if you are disrespectful or arrogant.

“I’m not sure how every other club does it, but if there is any team that has players that spend more time with the public and kids, particularly after games, than our boys do then I would like to see it.

“We are very proud of our club and our boys. We are probably not perfect, but I would like to think we are doing a decent job.”

“The Penrith Panthers are not doing a decent job, they are doing an outstanding job,” Anasta said.

“They have been marvelous the last few years and they are close to greatness looking to go back-to-back. Are they arrogant?”

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Jarome Luai has been accused of crossing the line on the field at times.Source: Getty Images

The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read believes there needs to be a clear line between what the Panthers do on and off the field and defended any perceived arrogance from players during matches.

“I think you have got to differentiate what they are like on the field and off the field,” Read said.

“Ivan was talking about how they do a lot of work with kids. Off the field those guys like Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary are fantastic blokes.

“On the field they play with swagger. They play with a bit of arrogance. You have got to have that to be successful.”

Anasta agreed that arrogance can be a powerful tool for a sporting team when used correctly.

“Don’t you want that?” Anasta said.

PK: ‘The fact is players get injured!’ | 02:24

“In any sport you have got to have confidence. Some people think they cross the line a little bit but you need confidence. You need a little bit of arrogance. You need to go out there thinking, I’ve got you covered.”

Paul Kent believes the Panthers are an outstanding club off the field and if the players show arrogance on the field, their success has given them the right to express themselves.

“It all shapes in narratives,” Kent said.

“They do have swagger. They are confident and they are aggressive and they let you know it and they actually reveal it in showing you how well they are going.

“That’s on the field. Ivan didn’t address that at all. I have addressed them off the field where he was 100 per cent right.

Buzz: Roosters have looming cap issues | 04:08

“They are tremendous the way they interact with their fans and give back to the community.

“I think it is not a bad thing what they do on the field. It annoys me sometimes. I don’t like seeing some of the things, but it is part of the big picture.

“Everyone wants it to be completely black or completely white. They are neither. They are somewhere in the middle and that is where the fun happens to be honest.

“They are a little bit arrogant on the field, but it is a healthy arrogance.”

The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield believes the Panthers players are expressing themselves and their upbringing, which they are very proud of.

“You don’t want a dull boring footy team,” Rothfield said.

“You want personality. You want characters.

“What we see from Penrith on the football field is these boys who have grown up in the district in tough areas around Mt Druit and St Marys and they are characters.

“They just love celebrating it. I don’t think it is arrogance.”

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Sports

UFC news 2022: Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira, UFC 281, Dana White, November, title fight

Israel Adesanya will have the chance to re-write some personal history when he defends his UFC middleweight title against Brazilian Alex Pereira on November 13 (AEST).

World champion Adesanya announced on Sports Center that he’ll fight old rival Pereira in a title fight at UFC 281 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The highly anticipated grudge match pits the two old foes against each other for the first time in mixed martial arts, after fighting twice before in kickboxing.

Watch Live UFC with ESPN on Kayo. Full Fight Night Events, PPV Prelims, Ultimate Fighter Series & More. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Adesanya was visibly shocked by the judges’ decision after his first fight with Pereira, with the Brazilian winning by unanimous decision.

The pair had their rematch less than a year later in March 2017, with a left hand knocking the Nigerian-born fight out during the third round.

While he hasn’t felt the need to chase revenge after losing both fights, Adesanya vowed to “slam this b****” ahead of their meeting at the famous New York venue later this year.

“Have I ever shied away from a fight? I’ve always picked the guy no one wants to fight,” Adesanya said on Sports Center.

“The guy that everyone runs away from, I run towards. So I run towards the fire and this is no different.

“After he beat me in Brazil, I never had any plans of trying to get revenge or anything like that because I don’t hold onto things.

“I’m telling you, the universe has presented this to me and it’s right there. It’s the perfect alley-oop and I’m going to slam this b****”.

Adesanya held onto his middleweight crown with a unanimous decision win over American Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 last month.

The victory extended the 33-year-old’s unbeaten run to three fights, after losing to Polish fighter Jan Blachowicz by unanimous decision in the UFC light heavyweight title fight last year.

As for his opponent, Pereira is undefeated from three fights so far in the UFC whilst he’s undefeated in his last six MMA fights.

The Brazilian is coming off a first-round knockout of the highly rated Sean Strickland.

Originally published as ‘Slam this b****’: Israel Adesanya’s message to old rival ahead of UFC grudge match

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Sports

schedule, events, times, Australians in action, medal tally, Eleanor Patterson high jump, lawn bowls, Diamonds vs England

Australia will have plenty of chances to add to its gold medal tally early on Saturday night [AEST] as the action gets underground on Day 9 of the Commonwealth Games.

Australia was on top of the Commonwealth Games medal tally with 50 golds, with England closing in on 47 but that was before Saturday’s events got underway.

Now the Australians have hit 54, with four gold medals in the opening hours. Read on for a full wrap and live coverage of Day 9’s action!

MEDAL TALLY: Aussies JUST in front as Comm Games race comes down to the wire

DAY 8 WRAP: ‘National disgrace’ rocks Comm Games as Hockeyroos survive penalty shootout scare

Australia benefits from BIZZARE rule | 00:29

LAWN BOWLS

Australia could pocket up to 11 more gold medals on Saturday, with Kristina Krstic and Ellen Ryan taking home the first in stunning fashion in the final women’s pairs lawn bowls.

England’s Sophie Tolchard and Amy Pharaoh led at 11-2 at one point but the Aussies refused to go away and won on the final bowl in dramatic fashion.

England skipped out to an early 2-0 lead and threatened to make it 4-0 but a brilliant final bowl from Ellen Ryan knocked two of her rival’s balls out of the way to level it at 2-2.

England responded though with two solid ends to reassert its dominance and kept going from there to take an 11-2 lead but Australia roared back in epic fashion to get it back to 11-10.

Ellen Ryan and Kristina Krstic of Team Australia react during Women's Pairs - Gold Medal Match.  (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
Ellen Ryan and Kristina Krstic of Team Australia react during Women’s Pairs – Gold Medal Match. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

The Aussie duo kept up the fight, picking up four points on the 13th end to lead 16-12 before England pegged it back and was up 18-17.

Krstic and Ryan though were on the brink of gold medal glory with two leading balls on the 18th end, only for Pharaoh to knock one out with a brilliant bowl on the final ball.

It meant the game finished a draw and would instead go into overtime to decide who would take home the gold.

England was in the commanding position with a few balls left but a pinpoint bowl from Ryan knocked the jack away and kept Australia in with a chance.

Once again it went down to the last ball, with Australia’s gold medal hopes resting on Ryan’s shoulders.

And she came up clutch with a stunning shot to knock England’s leading ball out of the way, sealing gold in a thrilling comeback.

ATHLETICS

‘That is breathtaking’: Comm Games record broken in 10,000m stunner

The gold rush has continued on the track, with Jemima Montag taking out the women’s 10,000m walk in a dominant display.

“That was absolutely breathtaking,” Channel 7’s Jason Richardson said.

Montag paced herself brilliantly throughout the walk and then picked up the pace in the latter stages of the race to get in a comfortable position.

So comfortable that Montag could start celebrating well before she crossed the finish line for gold with a time of 42:34:00 — a new personal best and Commonwealth Games record.

“That was surreal,” Montag told Channel 7 post race.

Jemima Montag of Team Australia celebrates after winning the gold medal. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

“You just sort of pretend everyone’s clapping for you, even if they’re clapping for the high jump or the hammer throwers walking in and anytime there’s self-doubt, it really gives you a boost.

“I feel like I’m continuing the legacy of really strong Australian race walking and to go back-to-back, winning on the Gold Coast four years ago really changed my life. I didn’t think that at the time but I think with hindsight it did, it set in that self-belief. I have big dreams for two more Olympic games. So today was a special moment.”

Fellow Australian Rebecca Henderson finished fourth and Katie Hayward placed seventh.

Aussie world champ toppled in upset

There was a surprise result on track, with Eleanor Pattersonthe reigning world champion, missing out on gold in the women’s high jump final.

Patterson was coming off a brilliant win at the World Championships and became the first to clear 1.89m in a strong opening to the final.

In the end though she missed three attempts at 1.95m, the top result set by Jamaica’s Lamara Distin, who won gold with Patterson taking the silver medal.

Nicola Olyslagers was initially going to join her but with drawn from the final with a torn calf.

“It could be a few weeks and if I jumped today it was possible to be a nine-month injury,” the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist told Channel 7.

Australia’s Eleanor Patterson missed out on gold. (Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP)Source: AFP

Elsewhere, Julie Charlton will also be competing in the women’s F55-57 shot put final while there will be four Australians going for gold in the women’s 10km race walk final at 7.30pm.

Later at 8.50pm, ben buckingham and Edward Trippas will be going for gold in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final.

The final shot at gold comes in the men’s 1500m final, with Ollie Hoare in action and looking to secure ultimate redemption after a disappointing exit from the world championships.

Hoare was the fastest Australian qualifier after finishing first in heat one with a time of 3:37.57.

Other highlights include the women’s and men’s 4x100m relay heats.

There are lots of high-stakes events too with alex hulley (hammer throw), Sarah Carly (400m hurdles), Catriona Bisset (800m) and Ella Connolly (200m) in their own ends.

GYMNASTICS

The golds kept coming in gymnastics, with Alexandra Kiroi Bogatyreva taking out the rhythmic gymnastics clubs final with a score of 29,400.

Kiroi-Bogatyreva was also in action earlier in the ball final, placing fifth with a score of 28,600 and will be in the final ribbon later in the night.

Eighteen-year-old Lydia Iakovleva will also be in the rhythmical gymnastics hoop final after finish seventh (107.150) in the all-around final on Friday.

netball

The ultimate grudge match sees Australia’s Diamonds face England in the netball semi-final. You can read Nat Medhurt’s full preview ahead of the fiery semi-final here, with the game set to begin at 11.30pm.

If Australia is successful, it is Jamaica they will face in the end.

Jamaica’s stunning run continued as they dominated the Silver Ferns to take a 67-51 win and book their spot in the gold medal match for the first time at the Commonwealth Games.

Jamaica were the surprise top qualifiers in their pool after shocking Australia and it looks like

the Diamonds will again need to try to find a way to shut down Jhaniele Fowler.

The world’s best shooter dominated in Jamaica’s 57-55 win over Australia in the pool stage, finishing that match with 47 goals from 50 attempts and was even better against New Zealand.

The West Coast Fever star shot a perfect 54 goals from 54 attempts in the win.

Jhaniele Fowler starred in the win. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

TABLE TENNIS

Two Australian pairs (chunyi feng & Yangzi Liu and Jian Fang Lay & minhyung jee) were both successful in their Round of 16 matches for the women’s doubles table tennis.

They will face Singapore and Nigeria respectively in the quarter-finals at 1am.

Later in the night, Liu will continue her bid to become the first Australian woman to win a Commonwealth Games singles medal when she competes in the semi-final.

There will be guaranteed gold in the morning too, with an All-Australian for table tennis final between Li Na Lei and qian yang.

BOXING

There are lots of medals up for grabs in the ring, withfive Australians into the semi-finals. first-up, kaye scott is through to the gold medal fight after winning her women’s light middleweight boxing semi-final against Alcinda Helena Panguane on points.

Callum Peters will also put on the gloves for the men’s middleweight semi-final later in the night at 9.15pm, taking on Simnikiwe Bongco.

Edgardo Coumi is in action at 2am against Lewis Williams of England in the men’s heavyweight division while Australian middleweight Caitlyn Anne Parker faces Tammara Thibeault.

History will be made on Sunday morning regardless of the result as tina rahimi becomes Australia’s first Muslim woman boxer to take home a medal at the Games.

She will fight Elizabeth Oshoba in her featherweight semi-final.

DIVING

The swimming may be over but there was more success in the pool for Australia as Annabelle Smith and Madison Smith claimed gold in the women’s 3m synchronized springboard diving final.

Later on, the women’s synchronized 10m platform final sees Emily Boyd, Nikita Hayes, Charlie Petrov and Melissa Wu all in action.

CRICKET

There is plenty to look forward to in the early hours of Saturday morning too, with Australia’s women’s T20 cricket side battling New Zealand in a semi-final at 3am.

VOLLEYBALL

A dominant quarter-final performance has Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy one step closer to gold.

Their next challenge will be Vanuatu in the women’s beach volleyball semi-final at 6am.

HOCKEY

There will be more semi-final action, with Australia up against longtime rival England in the men’s hockey, with the time for that game to be confirmed.

SQUASH

There is plenty of action on the squash court too, kicking off with cameron pilly & Rhys Dowling and Zack Alexander & ryan cuskelly in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.

The mixed doubles semi-finals later in the day will feature donna lobban and pilley while Jess Turnbull and Alex Haydon team up in the mixed doubles plate quarter-final.

wrestling

There is lots to look forward to in wrestling too, with Naomi DeBruine (women’s 50kg, women’s 53kg and women’s 76kg) in action along with justin holland (men’s 57kg) and Tom Barnes (men’s 74kg, men’s 97kg).

FULL SCHEDULE — DAY 9

Lawn Bowls and Para Lawn Bowls, 5.30pm

Hockey, 6:00 p.m.

Netball, 6.00pm

Table Tennis and Para Table Tennis, 6.30pm

Athletics and Para Athletics, 7.00pm

Diving, 7.00pm

Rhythmic Gymnastics, 7.00pm

Boxing, 7.30pm

Wrestling, 7:30 p.m.

Badminton, 8:00 p.m.

Cricket T20, 8.00pm

Squash, 9.00pm

Boxing, 11.30pm

Netball, 11.30pm

Follow all the action live below! Can’t see it? Click here!

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schedule, events, times, Australians in action, medal tally, Diamonds vs England, Eleanor Patterson high jump

Australia will have plenty of chases to add to its gold medal tally early on Saturday night [AEST] as the action gets underground on Day 9 of the Commonwealth Games.

Australia remains on top of the Commonwealth Games medal tally with 50 golds but England is closing in with 47 to set up a thrilling race in the final days.

Here is a full wrap of the key events to come on Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday morning!

MEDAL TALLY: Aussies JUST in front as Comm Games race comes down to the wire

DAY 8 WRAP: ‘National disgrace’ rocks Comm Games as Hockeyroos survive penalty shootout scare

Australia benefits from BIZZARE rule | 00:29

LAWN BOWLS

Australia could pocket up to 11 more gold medals on Saturday, with the first shot coming at 5.30pm when Kristina Krstic and Ellen Ryan face England’s Sophie Tolchard and Amy Pharaoh in the women’s pairs lawn bowls final.

England skipped out to an early 2-0 lead and threatened to make it 4-0 but a brilliant final bowl from Ellen Ryan knocked two of her rival’s balls out of the way to level it at 2-2.

“What a good ball and what a good result, one of the commentators for Channel 7 said.

“What a shot. Perfect hit, rolling the blue balls out,” another added.

“My goodness, I don’t think Ellen would have even hoped she got that result.”

England responded though with two solid ends to reassert its dominance and kept going from there to take an 11-2 lead but Australia responded in epic fashion to get it back to 11-10.

TABLE TENNIS

Two Australian pairs (chunyi feng & Yangzi Liu and Jian Fang Lay & minhyung jee) will be in action in the Round of 16 for the women’s doubles table tennis.

Later in the night, Liu will continue her bid to become the first Australian woman to win a Commonwealth Games singles medal when she competes in the semi-final.

There will be guaranteed gold in the morning too, with an All-Australian for table tennis final between Li Na Lei and qian yang.

GYMNASTICS

Shortly after at 7pm, 18-year-old Lydia Iakovleva will be in the rhythmical gymnastics hoop final after finish seventh (107.150) in the all-around final on Friday.

Later there will be more gold medals up for grabs in rhythmical gymnastics too, with Alexandra Kiroi Bogatyreva scheduled to compete in both the ball and clubs final.

Those events are scheduled for 7.42pm and 8.22pm respectively but won’t be the end of Kiroi-Bogatyreva’s day as she has also qualified for the ribbon final at 9.02pm.

ATHLETICS

There will be plenty of action on the track, with three gold medals on offer in the space of 30 minutes.

First up will be Eleanor Pattersonwith the reigning world champion looking to defend her crown in the women’s high jump final, coming off a brilliant win at the World Championships.

Elsewhere, Julie Charlton will also be competing in the women’s F55-57 shot put final while there will be four Australians going for gold in the women’s 10km race walk final at 7.30pm.

Later at 8.50pm, ben buckingham and Edward Trippas will be going for gold in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final.

The final shot at gold comes in the men’s 1500m final, with Ollie Hoare in action and looking to secure ultimate redemption after a disappointing exit from the world championships.

Hoare was the fastest Australian qualifier after finishing first in heat one with a time of 3:37.57.

Other highlights include the women’s and men’s 4x100m relay heats.

There are lots of high-stakes events too with alex hulley (hammer throw), Sarah Carly (400m hurdles), Catriona Bisset (800m) and Ella Connolly (200m) in their own ends.

Australia's Eleanor Patterson will go for gold.  (Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP)
Australia’s Eleanor Patterson will go for gold. (Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP)Source: AFP

BOXING

There are lots of medals up for grabs in the ring, withfive Australians into the semi-finals. first-up, kaye scott is in action at 8.30pm in the women’s light middleweight boxing semi-final against Alcinda Helena Panguane.

Callum Peters will also put on the gloves for the men’s middleweight semi-final later in the night at 9.15pm, taking on Simnikiwe Bongco.

Edgardo Coumi is in action at 2am against Lewis Williams of England in the men’s heavyweight division while Australian middleweight Caitlyn Anne Parker faces Tammara Thibeault.

History will be made on Sunday morning regardless of the result as tina rahimi becomes Australia’s first Muslim woman boxer to take home a medal at the Games.

She will fight Elizabeth Oshoba in her featherweight semi-final.

netball

The ultimate grudge match sees Australia’s Diamonds face England in the netball semi-final. You can read Nat Medhurt’s full preview ahead of the fiery semi-final here, with the game set to begin at 11.30pm.

DIVING

Two Australian duos (Madison Keeney/Annabelle Smith and Brittany O’Brien/Esther Qing) will be competing in the women’s 3m synchronized springboard diving final.

Later on, the women’s synchronized 10m platform final sees Emily Boyd, Nikita Hayes, Charlie Petrov and Melissa Wu all in action.

CRICKET

There is plenty to look forward to in the early hours of Saturday morning too, with Australia’s women’s T20 cricket side battling New Zealand in a semi-final at 3am.

VOLLEYBALL

A dominant quarter-final performance has Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy one step closer to gold.

Their next challenge will be Vanuatu in the women’s beach volleyball semi-final at 6am.

HOCKEY

There will be more semi-final action, with Australia up against longtime rival England in the men’s hockey, with the time for that game to be confirmed.

SQUASH

There is plenty of action on the squash court too, kicking off with cameron pilly & Rhys Dowling and Zack Alexander & ryan cuskelly in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.

The mixed doubles semi-finals later in the day will feature donna lobban and pilley while Jess Turnbull and Alex Haydon team up in the mixed doubles plate quarter-final.

wrestling

There is lots to look forward to in wrestling too, with Naomi DeBruine (women’s 50kg, women’s 53kg and women’s 76kg) in action along with justin holland (men’s 57kg) and Tom Barnes (men’s 74kg, men’s 97kg).

FULL SCHEDULE — DAY 9

Lawn Bowls and Para Lawn Bowls, 5.30pm

Hockey, 6:00 p.m.

Netball, 6.00pm

Table Tennis and Para Table Tennis, 6.30pm

Athletics and Para Athletics, 7.00pm

Diving, 7.00pm

Rhythmic Gymnastics, 7.00pm

Boxing, 7.30pm

Wrestling, 7:30 p.m.

Badminton, 8:00 p.m.

Cricket T20, 8.00pm

Squash, 9.00pm

Boxing, 11.30pm

Netball, 11.30pm

Follow all the action live below! Can’t see it? Click here!

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Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira, UFC 281, Dana White, November, title fight

Israel Adesanya will have the chance to re-write some personal history when he defends his UFC middleweight title against Brazilian Alex Pereira on November 13 (AEST).

World champion Adesanya announced on Sports Center that he’ll fight old rival Pereira in a title fight at UFC 281 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The highly anticipated grudge match pits the two old foes against each other for the first time in mixed martial arts, after fighting twice before in kickboxing.

Watch Live UFC with ESPN on Kayo. Full Fight Night Events, PPV Prelims, Ultimate Fighter Series & More. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Adesanya was visibly shocked by the judges’ decision after his first fight with Pereira, with the Brazilian winning by unanimous decision.

The pair had their rematch less than a year later in March 2017, with a left hand knocking the Nigerian-born fight out during the third round.

While he hasn’t felt the need to chase revenge after losing both fights, Adesanya vowed to “slam this b****” ahead of their meeting at the famous New York venue later this year.

Tough as nails Aussie makes Dana applaud | 01:28

“Have I ever shied away from a fight? I’ve always picked the guy no one wants to fight,” Adesanya said on Sports Center.

“The guy that everyone runs away from, I run towards. So I run towards the fire and this is no different.

“After he beat me in Brazil, I never had any plans of trying to get revenge or anything like that because I don’t hold onto things.

“I’m telling you, the universe has presented this to me and it’s right there. It’s the perfect alley-oop and I’m going to slam this b****”.

Adesanya held onto his middleweight crown with a unanimous decision win over American Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 last month.

The victory extended the 33-year-old’s unbeaten run to three fights, after losing to Polish fighter Jan Blachowicz by unanimous decision in the UFC light heavyweight title fight last year.

As for his opponent, Pereira is undefeated from three fights so far in the UFC whilst he’s undefeated in his last six MMA fights.

The Brazilian is coming off a first-round knockout of the highly rated Sean Strickland.

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‘Hold Hasim Rahman Jr. liable’: Jake Paul blasts rival as grudge match canceled

Jake Paul’s has savaged Hasim Rahman Jr. after the fight was called off at the last minute.

The YouTube star was due to fight at Madison Square Garden next weekend but a statement released on Saturday night slammed Rahman for apparently moving the goalposts, The Sun reported.

Watch Boxing Live & On-Demand on Kayo. Selected international fights, classic bouts and more. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

A statement from Most Valuable Promotions said Rahman’s team tried to change the fight weight from 200lbs to 215lbs.

And it read: “The boxing community must hold Hasim Rahman Jr liable for his lack of professionalism.”

Rahman and his team are said to have offered assurances that he was on track to make 200lbs at the weigh-in on Friday.

Paul claimed Rahman’s team went “as far as to provide a letter signed by a recognized nutritionist that his weight cut was progressing without issue”.

But in the last 48 hours, Rahman had lost less than one pound and the New York State Athletic Commission said it wouldn’t sanction the fight for less than 205 pounds.

Paul’s team claim they were prepared to raise the weight to 200 pounds, but say Rahman indicated he would come in at 215 pounds.

“Upon receiving this new contract Saturday morning, Rahman’s camp indicated for the very first time that he planned to weigh 215lbs. at the official weigh-in and would not agree to

weigh-in at 205 pounds and reporting Most Valuable Promotions that they are pulling out of the fight unless the fight was agreed to at 215 pounds,” the statement read.

“MVP and Jake Paul will not reward someone that has conducted themselves in such a deceiving and calculated manner.

“Therefore, MVP is left with no choice but to cancel the August 6th event. This forced outcome impacts Jake Paul, Amanda Serrano and every other fighter on this card who have trained tirelessly over the past few months for this event.

“The boxing community must hold Hasim Rahman Jr. liable for his lack of professionalism.”

And drastic action was taken with the fight axed and refunds offered to ticket holders and PPV buyers.

Paul was due to fight British reality star and boxer Tommy Fury.

But Fury ran into visa issues and couldn’t fight the YouTuber at Madison Square Garden.

Paul had been sparring with former world champ Chad Dawson in build up to the fight.

He was set for one of the toughest fights of his young boxing career.

This was due to be the sixth professional fight for the younger Paul brother and he is undefeated so far.

This story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.

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